Solar Eye

I was on tour playing keyboards with a struggling indie rock band in the fall of 2001. I had a day off before my flight back to London, so I headed out to my mother's place on Long Island. The next day I woke up to September 11. My flight back was canceled.

I decided to go to Hither Hills State Park in Montauk to watch the sun and listen to the ocean for a few days. I was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of families out there camping and enjoying themselves, despite the horrible events that had unfolded.

When I finally made it back to London I quit the band, set up all of my gear in my tiny flat, and dove into a stream of consciousness journal I had been keeping for the past year. I was looking for gems buried in the thousands of meandering thoughts I had committed to paper.

I worked on the recording for about three months. I would wake up with a fire in my belly (no, it wasn't an ulcer) and just dive into the process.

I've always felt Solar Eye contains some of my best work. I still feel that way. I guess I am not one of those artists that seem to believe the latest thing they have done is always their best. I am lucky to have a few dear friends who "get" Solar Eye and have always encouraged me to do something with it. However, I think most of the people I have shared it with are baffled by it. So it has remained in a lonely, buried folder on my hard drive for nine years or so.

Solar Eye is meant to be listened to as one piece. If you are up for the challenge, download the tracks from soundcloud. Line up all of the tracks with no gaps in between and have a blast.

Solar Eye by Michael Ward-Bergeman

Download the lyrics
photo by Russell Duncan